Onie Rollins & Frank “Clete” Graham Place of residence: North Wilmington How they met: “We’re both passionate about the sport of rowing, which is what brought us together at a regatta in Philadelphia in 1995,” Onie says. “Clete was the regatta director, and I had questions about entries I was submitting for Wilmington Rowing Center. We hit it off over the phone, met at the regatta, and had our first date a few weeks later. Not wanting to rush things, we finally were married in 2008—after a 13-year engagement!”
What’s your secret? “We give each other time to pursue individual interests and our separate rowing commitments, but keep sacred the time set aside for date night each week.”
How do you keep things interesting? “We love to travel, whether it’s frequent trips to D.C. and Cape May for long weekends or Europe for longer vacations. It’s a great way to share new experiences.”
Richard James & Kirsten Olson Place of residence: Bellefonte How they met: “Kirsten and I met while we were both doing resident volunteer work at the Meeting Ground homeless shelter in Cecil County, Maryland. Kirsten had just graduated from college and I had recently completed a stint at Washington D.C.’s Community for Creative Non-Violence, another homelessness and housing-advocacy service organization. We lived and worked at the shelter for about another two years after getting married, and then moved to Newark after Kirsten got a job with Head Start in Cecil County. After we both ended up getting jobs in Wilmington, we moved to Trolley Square, then bought a house in 40 Acres. Our daughter Lucy was born in 1999.” What’s your secret? “We love each other, we have a wonderful kid, a home, and many pets. We enjoy each other’s company and respect each other. We share a lot of the same interests and we do a good job of sharing household responsibilities and other obligations, so they don’t get in the way of doing fun stuff. We don’t take ourselves too seriously.” How do you keep things interesting? “We like to travel, take day trips and go to museums, galleries, and events. We like to visit new restaurants and spend time with interesting people.”
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